Our cars: Peugeot 208 - April

The 208’s been a big hit for Peugeot. Not that surprising. It looks fantastic, inside and out. Plus, small French superminis just seem a mite more chic and desirable than the competition from other countries.

After seeing so many on the roads, I thought it was time to revisit the three-cylinder petrol model on our fleet, which I haven’t driven since it was new.

Most of the office debate over this car concerns the unconventionally small steering wheel and the driving position. Maybe I’ve got the right length body, legs and arms because I don’t have an issue: I can get everything where I want it and still see all the dials. In fact, I like the feeling of the wheel and the darty steering it provides. I like the comfort, too, and the look and feel of all the controls.

The buzzy three-cylinder engine is pleasing too, even if you need to concentrate not to take-off in a jerky way.

In fact, my only major irritation is the ride quality. The problem with the Peugeot is that lumps and bumps in the road thump up through the wheels, making it shudder, so it's wearing to drive on the many bumpy roads around here.

A shame, because I think that the Peugeot 208 is only some chassis tuning away from getting a lot closer to the Fiesta in my estimations.

Our long term 208 made a rare journey out of the city this week, setting off on a 520-mile round trip to North Wales.

Waiting for me on the North Wales coast was the ultimate version of our Peugeot hatchback – the 208 GTi.

We've had a few grumbles about the 1.2-litre 208, and I approached the hot hatch version with a little trepidation. However, thankfully, most of my fears appeared to be misplaced. The clutch, gearchange and body control are all far better on the GTi. Rather than being a quick version of a frustrating supermini, it feels like a totally different car.

The big test will be how it compares to its closest rivals, the Fiesta ST and the Renault Clio Renaultsport, but it has got off to a reassuringly good start.

I wasn't overly impressed with the initial fuel economy of the 208, but recognised that most of my driving was in town and also that the engine had not yet had a chance to loosen up. Over the first couple of thousand miles, average economy was in the late 30s.

As the 5000-mile mark is fast approaching, I got my calculator out again. The average over the last few fills has seen an improvement, but not enough of one to appeal to my miserly side.

I'm now seeing an average around 42mpg, which is better, but still not great considering the official figure is 62.7mpg. However, it is pretty much bang on the True MPG figure of 42.7mpg so this is probably as good as it is going to get unless I move to the countryside and ditch my urban commute.

I'm not quite at the stage of life where storage space is one of the first things I look for in a car, and I'd imagine most supermini buyers are much the same. If you need vast amounts of cubbyholes, then you probably want a bit more space in the rest of the cabin as well.

However, even my meagre stashing requirements are a long way from being met by the Peugeot 208's glovebox. In fact, it is so small that I fancy I would even struggle to get some chunkier pairs of gloves in there, so even the traditional name is misleading.

Us Brits liking our steering wheel on the right-hand side of the car is likely to be the biggest reason for this, but it is still annoying that the door pockets are bigger than the glovebox.